Stand for storage of shoes

ABSTRACT

A stand for storage of shoes has two flat parallel rigid end supports, and telescopic crossties extending between these. Major surfaces of the end supports are provided with coupling elements for engagement with the crossties. Edge faces of the end support have additional coupling elements by means of which two or more of the stands can be coupled together to provide increased storage capacity.

United States Patent [1 1 Leifheit 1 1 STAND FOR STORAGE OF SHOES [75]Inventor: Giinter Leil'heit, Nassau, Lahn,

Germany [73] Assignee: Leifheit International Giinter Leifheit GmbH,Nassau, Lahn, Germany 221 Filed: June 18, 1973 21 App]. No.: 371,245

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 19, 1972 Germany 2229084[52] US. Cl. 211/37; 108/91; 312/108 [51] Int. Cl. A47F 7/08 [58] Fieldof Search 211/37, 34, 13; 108/64 XR, 108/91; 5/8, 9 B; 46/30, 25, 15;206/504, 511;312/107,108,111

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,308,647 7/1919 Stuck312/107 1,797,373 3/1931 Simmons 217/42 X 2,276,141 3/1942 Atkinson r211/37 2,431,423 11/1947 Robbins 211/37 June 10, 1975 2,451,012 10/1948Zalkind 312/108 2,808,788 10/1957 Stough 211/13 UX 2,849,151 8/1958 Heil206/511 X 2,989,188 6/1961 Auer 211/37 UX 3,311,242 3/1967Mik1ya................ 211/37 3,546,807 12/1970 Howe 46/030 X FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 1,206,143 8/1959 France 211/37 1,462,095 11/1966France .4 211/37 884,776 12/1961 United Kingdom 312/1 1 1 19,562 9/1898United Kingdom 21 1/37 Primary ExaminerR0y D. Frazier AssistantExaminer-Darrell Marquette Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Michael S. Striker[57] ABSTRACT A stand for storage of shoes has two flat parallel rigidend supports, and telescopic crossties extending between these. Majorsurfaces of the end supports are provided with coupling elements forengagement with the crossties. Edge faces of the end support haveadditional coupling elements by means of which two or more of the standscan be coupled together to provide increased storage capacity.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEIJJUH 10 I975 SHEET 1 STAND FORSTORAGE OF SHOES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to astand for storage of shoes, in which rod shaped crossties are supportedby supports which are arranged at a distance from each other.

There are already known stands for storage of shoes which have a cabinetshape, wherein storage shelves are provided for receiving the shoes andare integrated into the cabinet construction. There are also knownstands for storage of shoes which are made from rodshaped material andwhich can be hung on walls. These known shoe stands are disadvantageousin that their use is tied to a stable location as a consequence of theirconstruction, so that they can usually be accommodated only in placeswhich are unsuitable for permanent use. Also, fitting the conventionalstands to the available space is quite impossible without resorting tospecial measures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide a shoe storage stand which can be used under various conditions,particularly in diversely shaped spaces, without resorting to specialassembling measures, and which also is suitable for superposing so as toassemble a larger unit.

This is achieved according to the invention, in general, by constructingthe shoe stand supports as rigid flat members, and by providing at leastone major surface of each support with coupling elements for supportingrod-shaped crossties. Additional coupling elements are provided on thesupport edge faces for direct attachment of a plurality of supports toeach other. Using such a construction of the supports, the shoe standaccording to the invention is suitable for direct erection on the floor,for hanging on a wall or the like, or also as the need may be foraccommodation in an available cabinet space, without any need for aprofes sional assistance on the part of the user. It is also possible tostack a plurality of such shoe stands above each other withoutencountering any difficulty, and thus to assemble from them a largerunit.

For this purpose it is advantageous that the shoe stand supports beconfigurated as essentially rectangular rigid members, and that they beprovided with coupling elements on their edge faces. Consequently, theshoe stand can be optionally erected in such a manner that the shorteror the longer edge faces of the support contact the support surface(e.g. the floor) and a fitting of the stand to spaces having differentheights and depths is possible solely by changing its orientation.Furthermore, it is advantageous to locate the coupling elements forsupporting the rod-shaped crossties for holding the shoes at diagonallyopposite grid points of a rectangular, preferably quadrilateral, grid.An arrangement is obtained by this measure which permits optimum storageof the shoes and in which the crossties are located in pairs arranged ininclined planes. The preferable arrangement of the coupling elements atdiagonally opposite grid points of a quadrilateral grid even permits apositioning of the crossties in inclined planes which enclose an angleof 45 with any possible base planes (depending upon the orientation ofthe stand), so that the shoes to be stored can always be placed upon acrosstie having the same inclination regardless of the orientation ofthe stand, such inclination of course assuring optimum access thereto.Moreover, it is advantageous to construct the coupling elements of theshoe stand support for the unilateral reception of crosstie parts havingdifferent diameters, i.e. of parts which are telescoped into each other,such crosstie parts preferably having a tubular configuration. Wideningor narrowing of the entire shoe stand may then be obtained bytelescoping the smaller-diameter crosstie part into or out of thelarger-diameter crosstie part so that the shoe stand width is easilyvariable in a broad range. In this context, it is furthermore advisableto provide one major surface of each shoe stand support with couplingelements for both types of the crosstie parts to be assembled to acrosstie unit, the coupling elements being arranged in alternating orderso that the shoe stand supports are identical and the two supports canbe used interchangeably at any end of the shoe stand.

In order to enable even a technically unskilled user to easily assemblethe various parts, the coupling elements for attachment of the crosstiesas well as for direct coupling of a plurality of supports to each otherare advantageously constructed as coupling projections and/or couplingsockets suitable for establishing plugin connections.

The coupling projections and the coupling sockets for mutual coupling ofseveral supports are preferably provided on elongated offset head partsof the supports, the head parts being located at the shorter ends of thesupports and projecting beyond the longitudinal sides of the main partof the support. The ends of the head parts are advantageously providedwith coupling projections on one side of the support, and with couplingsockets on the other side of the support, while the head parts areprovided with immediately adjacent coupling projections and couplingsockets in the longitudinal regions of their end faces, the adjacentarrange ment on one side of the support being opposite to that on theother side. In order for the shoe stand according to the invention tohave only a small weight but high stability, it is advisable that theshoe stand supports be provided with perforations or holes in the regionbetween the coupling elements for the rod-shaped crossties.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thenovel shoe stand, in a first manner of erection;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the novel shoe stand, in a second mannerof erection and with two individual stands superimposed;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a shoe stand support, seen from theinside of the stand; and

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 of the drawing shows acurrently preferred embodiment of the stand for storage of shoes,according to the invention. This shoe stand comprises, in general, flatpanel-shaped supports arranged in parallel but spaced from one another,and rod-shaped crossties 11 which are accommodated between thesesupports and suitable for supporting the shoes to be stored. Thesupports 10 have different dimensions in mutually normal directions,such that a substantially rectangular basic shape is obtained. Variouspossibilities of erection of the shoe stand, as illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2, result from this fact. When the stand is oriented as shown inFIG. 1, it evidently requires a much smaller floor space than if it hasthe orientation shown in FIG. 2, but it needs greater overhead clearance(disregarding the fact that in FIG. 2 there are two stands shown to bestacked in vertical direction).

Each of the rod-shaped crossties 11 in the illustrated embodimentconsists of two tubular crosstie sections l2, 13, one of which issuitable for being telescopically inserted into the other, each crosstiesection also being inserted at one end into a coupling element l4, 15.These coupling elements are provided on a major surface 16 of therespective support 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the couplingelements are constructed as coupling receptacles or sockets fitted tothe outer periphery of the respective crosstie section 12 or 13 to beaccommodated therein. However, it is to be noted that the couplingelements 14, 15 can also be constructed as pins projecting into the endsof the crosstie sections, should this be preferred. The length of theshoe stand may be varied within a broad range as a result of the use ofthe telescopic crosstie sections, so that an universal adjustment of theshoe stand to given space conditions is possible.

The coupling sockets 15, 14 for accommodation of the crosstie sectionsfor holding the shoes are arranged in a quadrilateral grid on the majorsurfaces 16 of the supports 10, namely, in pairs at diagonally oppositecorner points. By this arrangement, the crossties are arranged so thateach cooperating pair of the same lies in a plane which encloses a 45angle with the base plane of the stand, regardless of the orientation ofthe stand (compare FIGS. 1 and 2) so that there is no need for changingthe position of the crossties in respect to the supports. Since theshoes are always rested on one pair of crossties, an optimum conditionfor the accessibility of the shoes is thus obtained because, regardlessof the orientation of the shoe stand, the orientation of the pairs ofcrossties relative to the base plane remains the same at all times.

It is to be noted that each support is provided with adjacent couplingsockets for accommodation of any one of the two different crosstiesections 12, 13 having different diameters, so that the supports of theshoe stand are arbitrarily interchangeable end-for-end. The differentcoupling parts are alternately provided at the corner points of thequadrilateral grid so that, in the arrangement obtained during theassembling operation, the shoe stand supports are mirror images of eachother, and the coupling parts for each of the crosstie sections 12, 13always face each other.

In addition to the coupling elements 14, 15, the shoe stand supports 10are provided with further coupling elements 18, 19 on certain of theiredge faces. These latter coupling elements 18, 19 are alternatelyconstructed as coupling projections and coupling sockets in such amanner that whenever a plurality of shoe stands is arranged above eachother (see H6. 2) or next to each other, the shoe stand supports engageeach other by means of the coupling elements 18, 19 which permit aplug-in connection. The drawing shows that the supports 10 aredelineated at their shorter sides by offset head parts 20 which areunitary with the main part of the respective support, but extend beyondits longitudinal sides. FIGS. 3 and 4 show in particular that the offsethead parts 20 are provided with immediately adjacent couplingprojections 18 and coupling sockets 19 at their longer edge faces 21,the adjacent arrangement on one of the ends of the support beingopposite to that on the end facing in the other direction. The ends ofthe head parts, which constitute the base regions for the erection ofthe shoe stand in the manner as shown in FIG. 2, are alternately eachprovided with a coupling projection 18 on one end and with a couplingsocket 19 on the opposite end. This arrangement of the coupling elements18, 19 permits the assemblage of several shoe stands by plug-inconnection in every case, regardless of the orientation of the lowermoststand. Finally, it is to be added that the supports are provided withperforations or holes 22 in their main part for reducing their weightand the material expenditure.

As already mentioned above, the illustrated embodiment is only anexample of the construction of the shoe stand according to theinvention, and the invention is not limited to this particularembodiment; rather, various changes and other embodiments are alsopossible. For instance, the rodshaped crossties could also be of adifferent shape, and the coupling parts for attachment of the crosstiescould be constructed as annular collars into which the ends of thecrossties are inserted.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in ashoe stand, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, sincevarious modifications and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairiy constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims:

1. A stand for storage of shoes, comprising a pair of I-shaped endmembers each having a center portion and a pair of crossbar portionshaving parts which extend beyond opposite sides of said center portionat the respective ends thereof, each of said crossbar portions having anedge face facing away from the other crossbar portion and each of saidparts having an end face extending substantially normal to theassociated edge face so that each end member may be placed on a supporting surface in a position in which one of said edge faces or two ofsaid end faces are juxtaposed with said supporting surface, said centerportion of each of said end members being provided with a plurality ofsockets aligned with corresponding sockets provided in the centerportion of the respective other end member; a plurality ofshoe-supporting telescopic crossties each having spaced end portionslodged in the respective aligned sockets of said end members andinterconnecting the latter at a distance from one another which isadjustable by telescoping said crossties, the length of said shoe standbeing variable at will by changing said distance between said endmembers of said pair with attendant telescoping of said crossties, andthe working height and width of said shoe stand being selectable independence upon whether respective edge faces or end faces of said endmembers are juxtaposed with supporting surface; and a plurality of maleand female portions in form of projections and recesses provided on saidedge faces and on said end faces of said crossbar portions of said endmembers and adapted to engage complementary connecting crossbar portionsof an identical additional shoe stand so that a stacked array may beprovided which is composed of a plurality of said shoe stands.

2. A shoe stand according to claim 1, wherein said sockets forattachment of said crossties are arranged in pairs at diagonallyopposing grid points of a rectangular grid.

3. A shoe stand according to claim 2, wherein said pairs of sockets areconstructed for accommodation said crosstie sections of differentdiameters.

4. A shoe stand according to claim 1, wherein said end members areprovided with holes intermediate said sockets.

1. A stand for storage of shoes, comprising a pair of I-shaped endmembers each having a center portion and a pair of crossbar portionshaving parts which extend beyond opposite sides of said center portionat the respective ends thereof, each of said crossbar portions having anedge face facing away from the other crossbar portion and each of saidparts having an end face extending substantially normal to theassociated edge face so that each end member may be placed on asupporting surface in a position in which one of said edge faces or twoof said end faces are juxtaposed with said supporting surface, saidcenter portion of each of said end members being provided with aplurality of sockets aligned with corresponding sockets provided in thecenter portion of the respective other end member; a plurality ofshoesupporting telescopic crossties each having spaced end portionslodged in the respective aligned sockets of said end members andinterconnecting the latter at a distance from one another which isadjustable by telescoping said crossties, the length of said shoe standbeing variable at will by changing said distance between said endmembers of said pair with attendant telescoping of said crossties, andthe working height and width of said shoe stand being selectable independence upon whether respective edge faces or end faces of said endmembers are juxtaposed with supporting surface; and a plurality of maleand female portions in form of projections and recesses provided on saidedge faces and on said end faces of said crossbar portions of said endmembers and adapted to engage complementary connecting crossbar portionsof an identical additional shoe stand so thaT a stacked array may beprovided which is composed of a plurality of said shoe stands.
 2. A shoestand according to claim 1, wherein said sockets for attachment of saidcrossties are arranged in pairs at diagonally opposing grid points of arectangular grid.
 3. A shoe stand according to claim 2, wherein saidpairs of sockets are constructed for accommodation said crosstiesections of different diameters.
 4. A shoe stand according to claim 1,wherein said end members are provided with holes intermediate saidsockets.